The launch of the heavily revamped Mercedes E-Class has been notable in a number of ways. First is the availability of the revised E-Class with a choice of two faces – the classic Elegance or the sportier avant-garde.
The former has a slatted, chrome-grilled nose with the three-pointed star perched on top and the latter, a more, uh, avant-garde nose with an over-sized badge in the center of the grill, as per our test car here.
Then there is the launch of a station wagon variant at the same time as the saloon. The salon is our machine of interest at this point.
It looks and almost sounds deceiving that, a small 1.8-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine powers this large luxury family sedan that produces 150 kW and 310 Nm. However, because it’s a German-crafted engine, power delivery and acceleration are equivalent to or supersede engines twice its capacity.
Among mechanical changes to the upgraded Mercedes-Benz E-Class include the addition of a 7G-Tronic Plus transmission (replacing a five-speed) and a ‘Direct-Select’ gear lever located on the steering column (now available on four-cylinder models). This offers you a chance to shift between Drive, Park and Reverse by nudging a selector on the steering column.
On the overall, this is a huge sedan that is within what may be seen as acceptable limits in terms of affordability and and all other elements.
Image Source: Unsplash
